Taken
by Wolf-007
Summary: COMPLETE. Nick/Renard. Nick has a violent encounter with a suspect and discovers he is engaged.
1. Chapter 1

**Characters: Renarad, Nick, Hank, Monroe and Wu**  
><strong>Pairing: NickRenard**  
><strong>Rating: PG with some descriptions of violence and a future kissing scene<strong>

**A/N: Written for a prompt on Grimm_Kink.**

Nick and Hank are assigned to the murder of a prostitute. They work the case off and on for over a week, but do not have any luck tracking down leads. Then out of a blue, someone points them in the direction of a witness who agrees to testify, all the evidence gathered starts to makes sense, more witnesses come forward, and, everything comes together in a rush. Both detectives spend their days and nights working to build the strongest case possible against their prime suspect, a member of the city council, Thomas Jones.

Renard gives his reluctant seal of approval when they ask for his permission to bring it before the DA, but since, they are going after a high profile suspect, he insists on being made aware of each step Nick and Hank take from then until the end of the case. The DA takes one look at the case before getting the judge to sign an arrest warrant for their suspect. Both detectives determine the best time to arrest Thomas is as he leaves his office in Portland's city hall for the day.

It is why Nick finds himself standing with Hank and Renard as well as several uniformed officers in front of the city council member's town car. Dusk is falling on the city, but Nick cannot really tell the time without looking at his watch because of the clouds that threaten to start dumping rain on everyone. As Thomas comes out talking to one of his aides it is starting to mist rain. Their suspect takes one look at the police officers waiting for him and takes off running.

Hank and Nick start running after him without hesitation despite the fact that it is growing darker by the second. The streetlights are coming on, and the pavement is damp looking. The rain continues to pick up as they chase him into a series of alleyways. When they come to a split in the alley with Thomas nowhere in sight, Nick pauses for a second to look at his partner.

"Split up or stick together?"

"Split up." Hank answers. They split up and head off down their respective directions.

Nick draws his gun as he comes to the end of his section of the alley where it dead ends at another building. His flashlight beam does not penetrate all the way into the shadows that lurk where buildings rise up towards the cloudy sky. He tries to look everywhere at once, but cannot quite manage to see everything. After a couple of minutes of searching, Nick determines that Thomas is not there. He turns back to go find Hank when something distinctly non-human moves in the corner of his eye. The next thing Nick knows he is on the ground.

Nick drops his gun and his flashlight in the fall. Both go skittering across the ground out of his reach and stop just under the edge of a dumpster. Nick focuses on the man – Grimm creature – standing above him. He quickly realizes that the creature and Thomas are the same person. Nick is more worried about the fact that Thomas is holding a piece of scrap metal that might have been a tire iron in a previous life, than the fact that Thomas is a creature he has never seen before.

The man's eyes widen when he meets Nick's eyes. Nick knows that he has been identified as Grimm, especially when the Thomas's hands grip the piece of metal a bit tighter as if he is even more determined to use it as a weapon. Nick takes a split second to wish that his non-Grimm and Grimm lives would quit intersecting. He already lost his chance with Juliette because of his Grimm life.

He has to roll out of the way as the creature tries to bring the metal down onto where his head had been a second before. The metal hits the ground with a dull thunk. The man brings the rod up again and aims for Nick's head again as Nick scrambles to his feet.

"Wait." Nick cries out. "I don't want to kill you. I'm a cop. I have a warrant for your arrest."

"Lies." Thomas hisses. "Fucking Grimm. Stop telling me lies." He says it loudly enough so there is no way Nick could not have heard his words.

Nick dodges the bar again, but finds himself with his back against the brick wall of one of the buildings. He has nowhere else to move as Thomas advances towards him. Nick blinks water out of his eyes as the sky opens up to a downpour. Nick's attacker brings the metal back like it is a baseball bat. Nick is not armed, there is nothing he can do to arm himself, so he braces himself for his inevitable fate to have his skull bashed in.

The blow does not come. Thomas is frozen in place even though he is still tensed for a fatal blow. The rain continues to fall. Nick has to suppress a shiver. The suspect twists his head towards the front of the alley as if he can hear something Nick cannot.

Nick takes advantage of his distraction. He surges forward towards Thomas. He manages to knock him off balance, but Thomas is not surprised enough to let go of the metal rod when Nick makes a grab for it. Nick heart pounds faster as he wrestles for control of the situation.

Nick is tired from the amount of time that he has put into the case. He is cold from the rain. His reflexes start to slow the longer the fight goes on even with the adrenaline pumping through his veins. Nick starts to lose the fight. He manages to get his back to the head of the alley so he starts stumbling back in the direction he expects help to eventually come from. Someone, not Thomas, yanks him by the back of his jacket. Nick lets go of the pipe to try and balance himself. His attempt does not work, and he falls backward to the ground.

Renard appears between Nick and Thomas. Renard is carrying his service weapon, not wearing his suit jacket, and looks pissed off. Nick takes the opportunity to try and catch his breath. The Grimm wonders when Renard had time to lose his jacket. He also wonders where the weapon came from because Renard certainly had not been carrying it while they were waiting for Thomas to appear. The suspect takes one good look at Renard as a surprised look slides over his face. He drops the raised weapon.

"Sire," Thomas gasps out.

Renard waits like he is expecting more. Thomas does not disappoint.

"This Grimm came after me. He wants to kill me," he claims. He says it like it should explain and justify his actions towards Nick.

"This man is a police officer. He was trying to arrest you." Renard answers. "I have no doubt that he identified himself."

"But he's a Grimm." Thomas protests. He puts more feeling into this explanation. The result is that it just leaves Renard looking more pissed off.

"He's mine." Renard growls deeply.

To say that Nick is shocked by the statement and possession in Renard's voice is an understatement. Thomas does not look any less surprised as he glances in between the two men.

"You're siding with a Grimm."

"He never meant any harm to you. He's my Grimm, and I would not allow him to run unchecked in my city." Renard glares at Thomas. Thomas opens his mouth again, clearly to protest this statement. Nick wants to say something because this conversation has definitely taken a turn for the weird, but he does not really want to draw attention to himself.

Thomas clearly realizes that he is not going to get help from Renard. So, he takes a couple of menacing steps in their direction as if he is going attack again. Renard tenses. Nick, who has only his seen his captain truly angry once, can only imagine what Renard might do.

"He's mine." Renard growls again. "He was promised to me. You can't have him, and you're certainly not allowed to harm him."

Nick cannot quite see Thomas's face, but since he raises the iron to strike at Renard, it must have revealed something about his intentions. Gunshots echo through the alley as Renard empties his clip into Thomas. The piece of metal clatters as it drops to the ground from the man's slack hand. He falls shortly after his weapon.

It only takes a few seconds for uniformed officers to appear at the head of the alley. They are shouting as they do, but Nick is not paying attention to what they are saying. He is still trying to wrap his brain around Renard's words. He stays sitting on the ground until a hand enters his field of vision. Nick takes Renard's hand and lets himself be pulled to his feet ignoring the little shocks that move up the arm Renard is gripping.

Hank appears with the second wave of uniformed officers. He immediately heads towards Nick looking very concerned for his partner's safety. Renard steps back as Hank steps up to them. Nick watches as he wanders towards officers trying to gather as much evidence as possible before the rain washes everything away.

Renard starts talking rapidly to one of the officers as he hands over his weapon. Another officer is retrieving Nick's gun and flashlight from under the dumpster. Nick really wants to ask Renard questions. An alley filled with others is not the place to do it though, and Nick does not even get the opportunity to as Hank bustles him off towards their car saying something about taking Nick to the hospital to be checked out.


	2. Chapter 2

Hank drives them in the direction of the station, but about halfway there, he takes a turn. The car's heat is turned all the way up. Nick feels the warmth start to seep back into his body as his shock starts to wear off. Rain is still hitting the windshield, but it is no longer pouring like it had been only a few minutes before. Nick realizes that Hank is driving him towards his house.

"Do you want me to have a uniform drop your truck off later tonight or call me tomorrow for a ride in?" Hank asks. His tone of voice makes it very clear that he does not want Nick not going back to the station until tomorrow.

"Actually, can you take me to a friend's place?"

Nick does not want to go back to his empty house. There is nothing for him do and no one for him to talk to at his dwelling. After the stressful week, Nick thinks that he might go crazy if he just sits in his house alone.

"I guess." Hank agrees so Nick gives him Monroe's address.

By the time they reach Monroe's house, the rain has stopped. Nick is still wet as he climbs out of the car, but is not dripping like he had been at the start of the ride. He bends over to look at Hank through the open car door.

"Thanks for the ride." Nick grins at his partner.

"No problem. Do you want your truck dropped off here or are you going to get a ride tomorrow?" Hank answers. His gaze is trained on Monroe's house clearly trying place where he has seen it instead of looking at Nick as he speaks.

"If you could get the uniform to drop it off here, that'd be great. See you tomorrow."

"Yeah. Bye."

Nick shuts the car door. He waits until he Hank drives down the street before walking up the short sidewalk to Monroe's front door. He knocks loudly. While Nick is waiting for Monroe to answer, he thinks about how he is interrupting Monroe's night, but he cannot bring himself to feel bad about it. The door swings open a few seconds to reveal Monroe carrying more decorations for his house, and Nick stops trying to feel guilty.

At the sight of the Grimm, Monroe groans, but he opens the door wider allowing Nick to enter his house. Nick takes a couple of steps into the front hall. Classical holiday music drifts out of speakers to Nick's ears.

"What do you want this time?" Monroe demands.

"We're friends. Can't I just come over to visit you?"

Monroe snorts. "Yeah, but you don't. What do you want?"

"Nothing. I just didn't want to go back to my place right now. I can leave if this is a bad time"

Monroe really looks at Nick for the first time that evening. Something is obviously eating at the Grimm. He had been caught out in the earlier rainstorm because his clothes were still visibly wet. Nick also appears exhausted. Monroe knows that being a Grimm and a police detective at the same time cannot be easy, and he wonders just what Nick had been working. The detective just gives the air of being miserable. Monroe does not have the heart to tell him to go away so he just shakes his head.

"Do you want a beer? Or a towel?" The Blutbad asks. He doesn't wait for answer before going to get the items he offered.

Nick takes the offered beer and takes a long drink from it. When he sets it down, he notices Monroe freeze. He sniffs at Nick causing the detective to shoot him a look. A look that said he was humoring Monroe. The humoring look turns to a look of confusion when Monroe is suddenly across the room without warning. Nick takes a step towards him, but Monroe moves again making sure that there is always a piece of furniture between them. Nick stops, and Monroe does as well.

"Why are you avoiding me?" Nick asks.

Monroe looks at him like he is stupid. It is actually a look that he gives Nick pretty often, but this time it looks a bit more serious than usual.

"I'm trying to keep out of the middle of this."

"By staying away from me? Is this one of those Grimm things that you don't want tell me about but can really kill me?"

"Yes. Only it's not your life I'm concerned about."

Nick sighs. He starts towards Monroe again, but Monroe shows agility by darting away towards the kitchen. Nick stops again. He thinks that his friend is being ridiculous. If it were not for the fact that the man is the only one who knows anything about the Grimm side of the world, Nick doubts he would still be talking to Monroe.

"What is this even about?"

"What is this even about? This is about me not getting killed because I get in between you and your fiancé." Monroe practically shouts.

Nick throws up his hands in a startled gesture because he most certainly is not engaged. He never proposed to Juliette. Besides, he does not have anyone who would go into a jealous rage over him anymore. Not that anyone has a reason to be jealous of Monroe. "What fiancé?"

Monroe makes a disbelieving noise like he cannot believe that Nick has no idea what he is talking about. Nick really wants to know what Monroe is talking about now because he has a feeling that he is not going to like whatever Monroe has to say.

"Well… you know how some cultures arrange marriages?" Monroe finally asks slowly.

Nick just stares waiting for Monroe to finish. His initial feeling that he would not like where Monroe was going is proven correctly.

"Well. I know they're not really practiced anymore, but in the Grimm world they're still pretty common. Mostly it's done to keep two families from fighting, but sometimes it's done for the protection of one of the parties."

"And?"

"And, you smell like your fiancé. I mean I've smelled him on you before, but it's really strong now." Monroe shrugs. "It smells like he was lying on top of you or something… Maybe…" He pauses. "You know sometimes the smell grows stronger when fiancés claim each other for the first time…"

Nick's face pales, and he focuses on not thinking about the incident that led him to end up at Monroe's. He focuses on not thinking about Renard's possessive tone of voice, possessive stance, just his possessiveness overall. He cannot be supposed to marry Renard. It would be impossible. Surely, his Aunt Marie would have told him about an arranged marriage.

There's a knock on the front door startling Nick from his internal reflection. He looks around for Monroe, but he is nowhere in sight having wandered off while Nick was having his internal freak out. Nick knows he might scare off someone Monroe might have coming over so he looks through the peephole to see a Portland PD officer standing on the doorstep. Past the uniform, Nick can see his truck parked out on the curb so he opens the door to retrieve his keys. He thanks the officer and shuts the door.

Monroe appears again. He watches Nick carefully like he is worried Nick's freak out might turn physical.

"Who was that?" Monroe inquires.

"Someone dropping off my truck." Nick closes his hand around his keys. "Thanks for the beer and the towel, but I need to be going."

"I thought you didn't want to go home." Monroe protests.

"I'm not going home."

"Then where are you going to do?"

"To talk to my fiancé and ask him what the hell is going on."

"Wait. You know who it is?"

"Yes." Nick makes a point not to elaborate any further as he pulls Monroe's door open. Monroe clearly wants to ask more questions. He makes the smart decision to remain silent though, as Nick pulls the door shut behind him.

Nick leaves Monroe's house and heads towards the station even though he knows he won't be welcomed. He realizes that he forgot to ask Monroe about what kind of creature Thomas Jones might have been. As Nick spends more time thinking about it, he comes to the conclusion that dealing with this fiancé situation is more important than identifying a dead Grimm creature. He also thinks that if his situation is that obvious to Monroe, it would be best to deal with it before every other creature in the Portland area starts finding out.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:This remains unbeta'd so sorry for the choppy editing.**

"How are we supposed to get married if we can't legally get married in the state of Oregon?" Nick yells at the top of his lungs.

The entire bullpen goes silent as every single person, even those on the phone, turn to look at Nick. His statement does not have the effect he was looking for because Renard does not appear. A quick glance in the direction of the captain's office reveals that Renard is not in, not that he is ignoring Nick.

Hank clearly thinks that his partner has gone off the deep end from the way he rapidly rises from his seat. However, Hank's desk faces the bullpen doors so Nick would not have been able to make it to Renard's office before he was physically removed by his partner anyway. With Nick's method, Renard will, at least, hear that Nick came by.

The younger detective is expecting to hear the opening words of Hank's "go home" lecture as his partner draws closer. Most people are obviously still watching and listening in for a big scene. Sometimes members of the Portland Police Department are worse gossips that 14 year old girls. Then, Hank stops in his tracks for no reason Nick can see.

"Detective Burkhardt, you should be at home." Renard says in a low voice.

Nick knows without having to look that Renard is in his personal space. He can feel the police captain's presence, and his only question is why he did not notice it sooner. Nick can see from Hank's expression th at is partner is understandably curious about whatever is going on in between the detective and his boss. Nick turns to look at Renard because it is better than staring at Hank's questioning look.

Renard occupies more of his personal space than Nick originally thought. If he had been any closer, they might have been touching. Nick has the desire to take one step back to put space between him and Renard's presence. He resists the urge though because he feels it would be showing weakness and backing down. Looking at Renard though, Nick is rapidly losing his desire to confront the man.

"Sir," Nick greets.

"You should be at home." Renard repeats. His face is carefully blank even though he must have heard Nick's exclamation.

"I wasn't planning on coming in tonight until someone told me that you claimed me," Nick hisses as he pokes his finger at Renard's chest. "And, apparently, now we're supposed to get married."

Renard looks at him with a curious expression as if he knows the Grimm did not figure out this on his own.

Most detectives dove into their work when Renard showed up. Most of the others saw the way Renard was handling the situation and decided that it was not worth it to keep watching, that there would not be anything more exciting happening. Renard stands there staring with a curious expression as if he perceives the Grimm did not figure out their engagement on his own.

"This is not the place to talk about it." Renard declares. "Dinner?"

Nick is thrown by the question so he just nods. Renard lets a pleased look flick over his face before he holds up his hand in a universal gesture of stop.

"Stay." Renard commands.

Nick is curious to learn what Renard has to say so he stays. While he is waiting, he twists to stare at Hank, who retreated back to his desk having clearly decided that Renard was just as concerned with Nick's well-being as he was and to leave it to the captain to strong arm Nick into going home for the night. Renard returns from his office with his coat.

They walk the couple of blocks from the station to a little French café that Nick has seen the sign for many times, but never stopped to eat at. The entrance is down a couple of steps from the sidewalk. The interior of the café is dimly lit by a couple of hanging lanterns and candles on all the tables. Everything is clean and organized.

Most of the tables are empty except for the two that have couples sharing dinner over them. The only visible waitress is serving another table when they walk in. Renard does not wait for her to seat them, he simply nods to the waitress who acknowledges him in return. Nick wonders just how regular Renard is to the café. They head to a table at the back of the restaurant about as far away from the other tables as possible to have an undisturbed conversation.

"I want to know how all of this works." Nick demands as soon as they sit down.

Renard avoids answering by turning to look at the waitress who comes over to them with a couple of menus. She takes their orders, including Renard's "the usual", and disappears. Nick waits for Renard to speak first because Renard has made it obvious he is not going to answer questions until he wants too.

Renard rests his chin on steepled fingers and leans forward, but does not rest his elbows on the table. He watches Nick watch him, but he does not speak. Nick wants to give in because he has to many questions to stay silent, but he manages to stay silent.

"How did you find out about my claim?" Renard returns. "The Blutbad you've been spending time with?"

Nick hesitates to answer because he is concerned for his friend's safety. Renard has already proved that he is possessive which makes it dangerous for Monroe if Renard decides he is competition. He opens his mouth to bullshit an answer, but Renard already seems to have taken his silence as a confirmation. He does not look all that upset at the idea of Nick being friends with Monroe.

"What did he tell you?" Renard asks.

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to explain things that you already know."

"He told me that I smelled like you." Nick answers. "Apparently, the smell gets stronger when you claimed me in the fight with Thomas Jones, and now we're engaged."

"We were always engaged." Renard corrects like it should be obvious. "It's only now that I've claimed you as mine that we're supposed to get married."

"What would have happened if you never claimed me?"

"I planned to tell you when you got more accustomed to the supernatural elements in the world."

"Really? We would still have to married? How are we even supposed to do that?

"Yes. We would still have to get married. It's tradition." Renard explains. Nick is pretty sure that he imagines the hurt that slides through Renard's eyes at Nick's mention of not getting married. "It would be done through a ritual. You should know that getting married legally and getting married religiously, for lack of a better word, are two different things."

The table falls into a slightly awkward silence as the waitress approaches their table with the food. She looks between the two of them as if she thinks they might be something more than just two people talking. Renard does not attempt to dissuade her one way or the other. As she leaves, she smiles and winks at Renard. Nick doesn't know how to respond.

"Why were we even engaged in the first place?" Nick continues after the first couple bites of his food.

"Your father made an arrangement with my parents after your mother died and her powers passed over you. I believe he was concerned what might happen if Marie Kessler was killed while you were still a child, and you inherited her Grimm powers before you were old enough to understand what was going on."

"I still don't understand what's going on to begin with." Nick argues to cover the fact that he starts at the mention of his aunt. He knew Renard knew about her, but had not been aware that Renard knew she was Grimm.

"But it would have been worse if you received them when you were 18 or younger." Renard points out.

"Why did my father come to your family out of all the other Grimm creatures out there?"

"Because he believed that my family, I, could protect you from the worst of the creatures out there."

"Protect me? What does that make you?" Nick snorts. He is a police detective, more information about creatures would be useful, but he doesn't need protection from them.

"Human." Renard snarks back even though he is aware that that is not what Nick meant.

"Who does that make you then?" Nick specifies.

"Captain Sean Renard, ruler of the city of Portland and its surrounding areas."

"So like prince?"

"More like king." Renard states matter-of-factly.

Half-way through the meal Nick thinks of another question, one that should have been one of the first questions he asked.

"What if I refuse?"

Renard looks up, clearly startled. "Pardon?"

"What if I refuse to marry you?"

Renard's expression darkens. Nick leans back a little uneasily. He does not have a hard time remembering Renard's dark expression from his confrontation with Thomas. The police captain clearly takes a calming breath because his countenance clears to something unreadable.

"You can't. Once the contract is acknowledged it has to be fulfilled. It's just a fact." Renard mentions. "You can look through Marie Kessler's books all you want, but you will find that I'm telling the truth. Your aunt already tried to get you out of the contract."

The conversation has cleared up quite a few points for Nick, but it has also left him with more questions. Like, he really wants to know how Renard knows about the trailer and the books. His mind keeps focusing on the sudden idea that he is essentially being forced into a shady supernatural marriage with his boss.

"We could have resolved the situation with Jones another way without starting this whole marriage contract thing." Nick states. He thinks that Renard cannot possibly want this too.

"It would have happened eventually." Renard mutters. He says it, and Nick is not sure that he was supposed to hear it. "Besides, the situation couldn't have been easily resolved without one of us getting hurt. Would have you preferred that I not interfered and that your brains be spread all over the floor of that alley?" He takes a vicious stab at his plate with his last words. Nick feels the same way.

"Right now, yes." Nick answers under his breath.

Renard does not respond, but from the stormy look in his eyes, Nick knows that he was heard.

"What are you so concerned about?" Renard demands.

"My freedom." Nick spits out because he cannot think of anything else. This whole situation is confusing him. It is making him think of emotions he never planned to confront, even in his darkest dreams

Renard's eyes flash. "We do this and we never have to talk about it again. You won't be trapped."

"It doesn't matter. I'll still know that I'm not completely free, and you'll know it."

"You don't have a choice. You'll have to do it at some point."

"How soon is some point?"

Renard shrugs. "There's little research on how long because most people acknowledge its usefulness and stop resisting. Sometime within the year."

"Then I have a year to figure out how to break this contract. I don't want to speak with you about anything other than work." Nick stands up.

He storms towards the door, aware, but uncaring about the attention that their conversation has attracted. He does not look back to see what Renard's face might give away about how he feels about this entire thing, but the older man's earlier actions have already made his intentions clear. Nick is the only one unsure about what he, himself, is thinking.

"Sorry for saving your life," he hears Renard say. Nick wants to think he imagined the disappointment ringing through Renard's voice as if he had been expecting things to turn out differently.

As the door to the café shuts behind him, Nick resolutely decides not to think about the idea of his feelings, Renard's feelings, or any sort of interaction that might happen in between them because of those feelings.


	4. Chapter 4

Nick has the day after the disastrous dinner off, which he spends his aunt's trailer trying to gather more information on arranged marriages in general. He wants as much data as possible before he can even begin to contemplate how to break the contract between Renard and him. He learns a lot before he has to go back to the office, but none of it appears to be useful to his goal.

The next morning, he has only been sitting at his desk for a couple of minutes when Wu wanders over with his customary smirk. Nick ignores him even as Wu exchanges a glance with Hank.

"Anything you want to tell us, Burkhardt?" Wu drawls. "You know something that might be happening between you and our illustrious captain?"

The detective looks up from the monitor of his computer to glare at Wu before also glaring at his partner who seems to be far too interested in the conversation for Nick's taste.

"No. There's nothing to tell and there's certainly nothing going on between Renard and me." Nick snaps.

"You sure? Because from the way he stormed back in here the other night, I'd say, dinner didn't go well."

"Nothing is or was going on." Nick insists.

Wu looks disbelieving. "Fine. If you want to play it like that, I have work to do."

The sergeant stays in place for a few minutes in case Nick decides he suddenly wants to spill his guts. He eventually wanders away after Nick refuses to respond to his last statement. Hank, though, continues to stare at his partner like he is trying to figure out the pieces to a puzzle, but wisely does not say anything.

Nick is surprised to find that avoiding Renard as the day goes on is unnecessary; Renard does a fine job of avoiding Nick on his own. By the end of the day, Nick determines that he really dislikes not being able to talk to his captain. The two of them were never close friends, but the distance between them still hurts.

As the days wear on, Nick spends more of his nights wading through the massive amounts of material in Aunt Marie's trailer. No amount of information on the different types of marriage contracts, who needs to be present when they are formed, how to fulfill them and more give any indication that it is possible to break one. When Nick exhausts all of his written sources, he turns to Monroe hoping that the Blutbad can provide answers.

"Why would you want to refuse?" Monroe asks when Nick brings it up.

Nick is sitting on Monroe's couch drinking beer while Monroe carefully packs up all of his holiday decorations. The process seems time consuming given how carefully Monroe holds and wraps each ornament, even the ones that are not breakable.

"The way I look at it, you gain the means and backing to do whatever you want Grimm-wise in the Portland area." Monroe continues when Nick remains silent. "What's wrong with accepting?"

"That I don't have the choice in accepting."

"But you even told me that Renard wants to provide you with the protection and perks of being married without demanding anything in return."

"And?"

"And you're being an idiot." Monroe rolls his eyes. Nick is unsure how he should feel about the fact that his friendship has grown so quickly from Nick demanding answers to Monroe freely insulting him. "He's obviously got feelings that run a lot deeper than just being your boss. I've lived here for years, and trust me, he does not give out help, protection, whatever, freely. He always wants something in return—"

"He wants me to marry him in return." Nick points out.

Monroe lets out a little huff of breath. He does not attempt to say anything as he wraps up the rest of the Christmas ornaments and starts on his train set. His body language radiates tension. The detective wonders what part of this conversation offended the Blutbad.

"You marry him, and he provides you protection. He's not demanding that you remain faithful to him or anything of the sort. He doesn't just do that!" Monroe answers. "I know most creatures would kill to be in your position. Yet all you want to know is how to get out of it?"

"Sorry." The Grimm apologizes. He knows Monroe has a good point. "This is just all still new to me."

His friend just shrugs as the tension drains out of him. Monroe seems to accept his excuse. "You can't break the contract, by the way. I've never heard of anyone doing it. Also, the stories I've heard of people trying don't end well."

"What am I supposed to do then?"

"Get married." Monroe deadpans. "But, from the way you've been protesting this entire time, I wonder if it's a case of 'the lady doth protest too much.'"

Nick glares.

Even though Nick is starting to realize that his impending marriage is starting to look more and more like it is a sure event, he throws himself into his Grimm research and his detective work. His closure rate shoots through the roof. He carefully does not think about Monroe's points and the fact that Renard is still avoiding him.

That, of course, is when Nick notices that he finds himself wanting to be closer to Renard. He feels better when the captain is around, like some invisible weight is lifted off his shoulders. Everything seems possible, and every problem has a solution. He just feels so relieved at work despite his case load. Even though he feels great at work, the second Nick heads home, he starts feeling more anxious. It only takes a couple of days for Nick to start catching naps in the station because he is losing sleep at home.

The Grimm thinks he might be going crazy. When he explains how he feels to Monroe, the wolf grins as he describes that the mood shifts are a side effect of ignoring the contract, and his desire to be closer to Renard will continue to grow stronger as long as he remains unmarried.

The detective tells Monroe to quit trying to be funny, but ends up attending more debriefings, than he had been in the past several weeks. Nick decides he really hates the way Renard seems to ignore him unless Nick needs something for a case, or Renard is giving Nick a case.

After a particularly hard week, Nick heads towards his house straight from the station instead of heading to Marie's trailer or Monroe's house. His emotions have been a mess since the discovery of the compulsion to wed. He is exhausted from all the cases that have come across his desk. He just wants to sleep and sort everything out in the morning.

He unlocks the door to his house on autopilot. He twists the door open while the key is still in the lock, and glances across the street towards his neighbors' parked cars. One car still has people sitting in it with engine and interior lights off. Nick plans to ignore them. What his neighbors do in the dark or their cars is really none of his business unless it happens to be illegal.

Then, as he stares at the car, Nick's Grimm senses tingle. He does not have to keep staring to know that the people in the car are not his neighbor and are Grimm creatures. He groans in frustration. He just wants to collapse on his bed in exhaustion. Determined to be left in peace, he shuts his front door and heads back down the front steps towards the car.

He raps on the driver's side window of the car. The car's occupants start even though they watched him approach. The driver turns on the car enough to roll down his window. The car's interior light illuminates the face of refrigerator repairman Juliette had once called. Nick can see the man's sheepish expression as they continue to stare at him.

"Yes Detective?" The repairman asks.

"What are you doing?" Nick inquires.

"Watching you." One of the other occupants speaks up.

"Why?"

"Because you don't try to kill us." The third occupant answers.

Nick is aware that he would normally be amused by the behavior, but his month has just not been going well. A trio of creatures spreading the idea that he is apparently different from other Grimm's is not a bad idea, but Nick is not in the mood to have more creatures popping by his house.

He adapts a hostile glare. The repairman and his friends squirm uneasily.

"This is not the right way to not piss me off." He snarls. "Get out of here before I make you leave."

"I thought you said he wasn't dangerous," The second occupants of the car says nervously. The third occupant hits him to shut up.

"He's not." The repairman says confidently. "Besides, we haven't done anything wrong. He can't make us leave."

Nick takes a menacing step. He reaches through the down window and grips the repairman by the front of his shirt. There are a couple of terrified whimpers from inside the car. The Grimm ignores them and leans close to the ring leader's face.

"Leave now." He hisses. "You don't want to find out how I plan to make you leave."

He lets go and backs up. It takes a few seconds for the repairman to stop shaking enough to start up his car. He peels out of his parking space and around the corner. Nick's emotions are still all over the place, but he feels strangely calmer like he needed on confront someone. As he heads back towards his house, concern grows in his gut about how it felt good to terrify creatures who had not done anything wrong besides be curious.


	5. Chapter 5

Nick's followers give him space. He does not seem them around as leaves or comes home from work, and he suspects that he got his message across, leave him alone. Though, before the week was over again, his stalkers are back sitting in front of his house in the repairman's car. Nick simply makes it his goal to ignore them, short of harming them he sees no other way of getting them to leave him alone. Eventually, he hopes that they will get bored and find a new creature to bother.

Along with the creatures staking out his house, Nick is starting to get used to the idea of not talking to Renard. Of course, just when Nick is starting to settle into a routine, something comes along to cause things to go to hell in a hand basket.

The something takes the form of a drug dealer one of the other detectives brings in for some routine questioning. Nick glances at him while the dealer is lead past, but quickly pushes it to the back of his mind. Drug dealers are not all that uncommon suspects for homicides, and the man does not appear to be a creature. Nick has several leads for other cases that he needs to follow up on instead of paying attention to other people's cases.

Nick regrets that he did not pay more attention more than five minutes later when there is the sound of a gun shot from the interrogation rooms. Very few detectives are on the floor at the time, but all of them look up at the sound. Nick is the closest to interrogation, and the first on his feet when the dealer comes sprinting out into the main room. He is waving the detective's handgun which he realizes is a bad idea when he sees the other detectives with weapons drawn.

The dealer grabs Nick. "Don't move. Don't fuckin' move unless I move you." The man growls out.

Nick can feel the warm metal of the recently fired gun press against his temple. His brain is working in overdrive as the dealer's other arm comes around to hold Nick in a choke hold. Things drag to a tense standstill because not one of the detectives is going to take a shot while their own is being threatened, but it is also clear that this druggie is not going down without a serious fight. The Grimm smells the other's clothes and breath and knows the man has not showered or brushed his teeth in weeks. He tries not to gag.

"Come with me." The man yells. He half-drags Nick along with him as he moves through the desks towards the doors at the end of the floor. The man trips a couple of times, but never drops the gun from Nick's temple.

The dealer is obviously trying, without luck, to keep all the detectives in the room in his sight so he has his back to the doors. Nick hears the almost silent whoosh as they open and the smooth sound of a gun being drawn from a holster, but he cannot see who it is.

"What's going on here?" Renard demands. Nick winces at its sharp ringing quality.

The dealer lets out a surprised sound. He rapidly twists to look at Renard dragging the detective into an awkward position with him. He takes the gun away from Nick's temple. The sound of a shot leaves a ringing noise in Nick's ear as he struggles to hold onto the sudden dead weight of the drug dealer.

The other detectives spring into action pushing Nick away from the body and into a chair. The room is a flurry of activity as others go to check on the detective in the interrogation room. Nick is left staring at the body and his captain from across the room, a captain who has just saved his life for a second time. He shudders when he catches the murderous look in Renard's eyes. Renard looks up to see who is staring at him and easily meets Nick's eyes. Nick can only hold his gaze for a couple seconds before he has to look away. The murderous intent in the older man's eyes had not been there leaving Nick to wonder if he had imagined the previous expression. The Grimm finds himself really wanting to talk to Renard.

As if sensing his intention, Renard turns to one of the uniformed officers swarming onto the scene and orders him to drive Nick home.

"I still need to give my statement." Nick protests.

His boss shakes his head. "You can give your statement in the morning, Detective Burkhardt. Go home and get some rest."

Nick tries to protest again, but is shooed out by the uniform and her partner. The last thing Nick notices in the room is the way Renard's gaze had once again slipped into a darker emotion as he examined the body of the drug dealer.

The first thing he does when he gets home is to grab a couple of beers from the fridge and sit on his couch to drink them. He polishes off the first one with a couple of deep gulps and begins the second one more slowly. Nick is all alone with his thoughts and he hates it. He zones out staring at his blank TV screen.

Nick has no idea how much time has passed when he is roused from his daze by a knock on the door. The second bottle of beer is empty. Nick throws it in the recycling bin on the way to answer the door.

The door swings in reveal Renard standing on his doorstep. The faint dark expression is still in place on his face as Nick stares at him. The Grimm is trying to think if he has done anything besides threaten the repairman that might cause the king to come after him. Nothing comes to mind.

"You almost got shot tonight." Renard mummers, his voice is deeper and gravellier than usual.

Nick nods and shifts his weight nervously. "Yeah. Thanks for saving my life. Again."

"How long is it going to take you to realize that you cannot get out of marrying me? How long is it going to take you to realize that I want to marry you, and you, at least on some level want to marry me?"

Nick glares. Renard gives an exasperated sigh when Nick declines to answer his questions. He reaches forward to grab Nick by the front of his shirt and haul the detective out onto the porch without warning. Nick cringes expecting a blow, but Renard smashes their lips together instead. Nick is more than a little shocked so he pulls back from the kiss. He does not try to escape from Renard's grip on his shirt front, though, as he looks up at Renard. His captain is looking back down at him with an unreadable expression.

He waits for Renard to say something, but the other just pulls him back into another kiss. Nick allows for it and kisses back. Renard takes the opportunity to pour out everything he has been feeling for the past couple of months. He puts his frustration, protectiveness, longing, and a million other emotions into it.

Nick starts to think that maybe this, the kissing, is not such a bad idea after all, but he is not sure if that is his brain or the lack of air talking. Then, Renard lets go completely. He takes a step back. He seems entirely composed, but the effect is ruined as his shoulders heave while he tries to catch his breath.

"Wow." Nick mummers. It looks about how Renard feels.

The porch is silent for a long minute.

"We should talk." Renard finally says.

"Definitely."

Nick pushes his door open wider leaving space for Renard to enter behind him. Since they have established the need to talk, Nick does not want to have their discussion outside. He gestures Renard towards the living, but heads for the kitchen himself.

"Beer?" Nick offers over his shoulder.

Renard shakes his head as he settles in one of the armchairs. Nick is well aware that he should not be having this conversation on three beers, but then, this is the exact kind of conversation he needs three beers to have. He sits on the couch across the low coffee table from Renard.

"You protected me again." Nick states.

"I know."

"Thanks, you know, again."

"It was no problem really." Renard assures.

Silence stretches between them again, but it is not really awkward. Nick contemplates the idea that he really is trapped into marrying Renard. He does not find the idea quite as abhorrent as when it first came up. Vaguely the detective wonders whether the compulsion to marry is changing his mind about his desire or whether the idea truly is not as detestable as it was. Then there is the factor that apparently, Renard wants to go through with the whole thing. A factor which is really something that Nick should have seen coming…

"I'm sorry." Nick apologizes. "I didn't even consider the idea that you might want this. I should have after Monroe brought to my attention just how much you were offering me."

A flush creeps up Renard's neck and ears. "How much I was… I don't know how much the Blutbad implied that I was giving up—"

"He didn't say you were giving up anything. He said you were offering me a lot from a person who doesn't give out favors all that often."

Renard lets out an uncharacteristic snort. "Because I don't. Giving out favors and services without expecting people to return them is no way to run a kingdom. People will start walking all over you, and you can't control them when you need to."

"You offered me what was essentially a freebie by saying that we could get married and never speak of it again."

"There were going to be conditions I intended to tell you upon your agreement."

"Were you going to demand my allegiance? My faithfulness? My obedience? Ask for a collar around my neck?"

"None of the above." Renard answers with face that says he regrets not taking the offered beer. "There are certain matters that would require your approval, and I would have required you to attend a few peace meetings to ensure that subjects remained peaceful."

"But that's still a lot more free protection and resources that you offer me than other creatures for less asked in return." Nick points out. He leaves Renard to infer the rest from what he leaves unsaid.

Renard smirks. "I never denied that I wanted to get married. I only intended to imply, before you interrupted, that what you understood from the Blutbad might have stirred your own desires on the matter. You obviously at least want it at least a little or the compulsion wouldn't have worked quite so fast or as well."

"Don't confuse my romantic desire and my friendship."

"You realize that the compulsion doesn't work on feelings of friendship, right?"

Renard just shrugs as Nick expresses his disbelief in wordless spluttering. The Grimm's jaw completely slams shut a few seconds later when he realizes that their discussion is heading down the road towards friendly banter and teasing.

"Besides you can't deny that you are at least slightly attracted to me. No one kisses like that if they don't mean it," Renard adds.

Nick's cheeks heat up at the mere thought of their kiss on the porch. His heart rate increases and his breath catch at the suddenly hungry look on his captain's face. Nick sees no point in denying that he liked kissing Renard, but he is still not sure what exactly he wants from the other man. Marriage? Probably, especially with what Renard is offering. He is not going to make that decision tonight.

He glances over at Renard again. Renard looks more relaxed than he had when he first appeared on Nick's doorstep. The dark look is completely gone from his face. He looks like he knows what Nick plans to say before the Grimm can say it.

"I like you, but I don't know if I want to get married to you yet."

"Think it over." Renard agrees. "See you tomorrow then? You still need to give your statement about what happened earlier."

Renard stands up from his chair and straightens his suit. He gives the appearance of being calm and accepting, but, as Nick looks more closely, he can see the little crack in Renard's expression that let Nick know he is disappointed. The detective is touched by his continued willingness to back-off for Nick's sake. He follows Renard to the door to say goodbye.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: One more section to go before I'm finished. Then on to my next fill. :)**

Renard hovers at the door while Nick tries to say goodbye. It is getting late and they both have to be at work tomorrow morning. Renard leans down to kiss Nick goodbye when he freezes then tenses like he feels something is wrong.

Renard pulls back from Nick and looks to the street scanning for something. Nick stares in the same direction and sees the car carrying the repairman with his two friends sitting in its regular location. Nick groans because, except for the couple of days after he snapped at them, they have been back every night. He is tired of them there. Renard turns back to Nick with confusion clearly displayed on his face.

"Should I be concerned?" Renard asks.

"No. They're just stunned that I don't want to kill them."

Renard appears to be amused at this revelation. Nick wonders why he never noticed how expressive his captain's face was before tonight. "How do you feel about this?"

"It was cute the first couple of times, but they just won't stop even when I threaten them."

"Ah. That explains their complaint."

"I was never planning on harming them." Nick protests.

"I know. Would you like me to do something about them?"

"You think that it will work? My threats only scared them away for a couple of days."

"It will work." Renard assures.

Nick watches as his boss jogs down the steps and across the street to the car. He bends down to talk to the occupants through the window. Nick cannot hear what Renard is saying from the distance, but whatever he is saying appears to be working. When Renard steps back, the car starts up and drives off. Renard walks back across the street to where Nick is standing. He looks pleased with himself.

"It's done. If they bother you again, just tell me."

"How did you do it?"

"I told them that they were poaching and that if they didn't leave I would consider that a challenge to my claim on you."

Nick raises his eyebrow questioningly.

"A challenge would mean that I have permission to dispose of them by any means possible to keep my claim."

"But you wouldn't…" Nick pales.

"If I thought that they weren't going to leave you alone, I wouldn't hesitate. You are mine."

Nick sighs and makes a mental note that the possessiveness Renard shows has to be toned at least. Renard slides his hands to cup Nick's chin before leaning in to kiss him. This kiss is sweeter than the first one Renard gave him, but it still has a claiming edge. Nick does not mind. Renard steps back.

"Good night," he wishes before he trots to his car.

"Good night." Nick calls after him. While he is still not sure he wants to marry Renard, the kissing is nice and so is the protective edge.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: This was originally going to be the end (with a slightly different end to the chapter), but it just kept writing itself so now there's one more chapter/an epilogue.

"Hey Burkhardt, did you bring food for the rest of us?" Wu calls across the station.

Nick ignores him as he sets the couple of bags of takeout on his desk so he can wiggle out of his coat. Hank glances hungrily at the bags, but he waits until Nick's back is turned to reach for one. He is not quick enough because Nick turns back around and smacks his hand away before Hank can actually steal any food. Hank gives his partner a hurt expression.

"The food is not for you." Nick states as he drapes the coat over the back of his chair.

"I'm your partner."

"The food still isn't for you. I told you I was going out for lunch. If you wanted something then you should have told me, and I would have picked it up for you."

"It would have been my luck that you forgot about it ordering food for Captain Renard." Hank mutters under his breath.

Nick rolls his eyes. "I would have gotten you lunch if you asked."

Hank shakes his head in disbelief because Nick can say what he likes, but Hank knows the truth. Ever since the hostage situation, there has been something different between them. Nick will not admit to anything and no one else has answers, but Hanks suspects there is something going on. Nick pays no attention to his partner's inner-monologue as he picks up the food and makes his way to Renard's office.

Renard raises his head to the sound of a knock on his door. When the police captain sees who it is and sees the food, he gestures for his detective to come inside. They had not been spending any time together outside the office between all the various cases and court dates so Renard started making sure that they spent time together even if it was in the office. Nick just followed suit because he has learned that he likes spending time in Renard's company. He is also really pleased by the fact that he has not seen the familiar car in front of his house since Renard told the creatures to back off. He could do without the teasing from Wu and Hank though.

Nick tosses a sandwich from one of the bags to Renard. Renard catches it easily and leans back in his chair. Nick pulls out his own food and settles in one of the visitor chairs.

"You would have to be careful about how much you protected me." Nick says in between bites.

Renard's slight smile grows into leaner and slier grin. He looks at Nick, but does not say anything.

"And, even though the protection is nice, you have to let me deal with creatures on my own otherwise no one will take me seriously." Nick rambles on. He knows what Renard is hoping for, but he cannot bring himself to say it quite yet. He looks like he wants to change the subject so Renard indulges him.

"Have you been left in peace?"

"Yeah." Nick nods. "Also, speaking of peace, I hope you won't give me preferential treatment if I start to disturb your balance."

"You already have. Several of my subjects have expressed their concern about your presence."

Nick makes a face. "Sorry."

"It's no problem. You have yet to disturb the balance enough for me to consider you a threat." Renard's voice contains a warning tone. Nick is concerned about what it might mean, but he does not intend to discover what it means. "I won't give you preferential treatment," Renard agrees, "but you have to understand that my job as ruler will always come first to me above whatever relationships or other jobs I might have."

"Just like I will always be a cop first before I'm a Grimm." Nick adds.

"You'll go through with it then?" Renard questions.

"I will." Nick agrees.

Renard balls of up his sandwich wrapper and makes the effort to get out of his chair to throw it away. On the way back to his seat, he pauses next to Nick and glances around before stealing a quick kiss. As the detective heads out to get back to work, he encounters his partner, not working, looking smugly at Nick.

"What was that?" Hank asks gesturing vaguely at Renard's office.

"What was what?" Nick asks back even though a blush is creeping up his face.

"That kiss." Hank glares. "It must be serious if he is kissing you in the station, but how come you didn't tell me about it?"

"Because there wasn't anything to know about until recently."

"Yeah, right." Hank spits out sarcastically. He is annoyed that Nick did not tell him anything.

"Look. I promise I'll tell you first thing next time I get involved with one of our superiors. Can we just get back to work now?" Nick asks.


	8. Chapter 8

Monroe tugs at his bowtie nervously as he examines himself in the mirror. When there is a honk from outside, he gives the bowtie one last tug before dashing outside. A beat-up Toyota is sitting at the curb. Monroe easily slides into the driver's seat and peeks over at his companion nervously.

"Thanks for coming to pick me up." Monroe tells his companion.

Wu rolls his eyes as he shifts the heavy book full of rituals sitting on his lap. "I picked you up and you're driving because I need to know where we're going. If I was going to arrest you, I would have already. Besides, someone needed to make sure you would come."

"I'm not the one you should be worried about." Monroe mutters sulkily. "I would have gone anyway."

It is true. Monroe hates getting dressed up, but the ceremony needed a creature witness. Nick asked him as a favor for a friend, and Monroe just does not have many friends who would ask him for favors so he agreed.

The drive is completely silent. Neither Monroe nor Wu really have anything to talk about. Monroe is being a witness as a favor, and Wu is the minister because he is the only human Renard seems to trust with something so important. Other than this ceremony, they have nothing in common to discuss. By the time they reach the park at the exact center of Renard's territory, it is almost midnight.

Renard is already there leaning against a sleek black car that is certainly not within the budget of a police captain. He is not in a tuxedo, but his appearance, in a suit, matches his car, he looks sleek. Monroe does not even try to suppress the urge to briefly kneel before the king as soon as he gets out of the car. Wu just gives him a strange expression when the Blutbad stands again. Renard, on the other hand, looks faintly amused.

As all three wait, an awkward silence stretches over them because they really do not have anything to say to one another. Monroe has met the Renard exactly twice before, but they have not interacted beyond basic greetings. Wu feels out of place because while he knows about the Grimm world, he is not part of it. Renard is just silent.

Midnight crawls closer. Monroe starts to tug at his bowtie again. Wu shifts the book to one hand and smacks at Monroe's hand to get him to stop. Monroe glares and adjusts the bowtie a single time to annoy Wu before allowing his hand to drop to his side. Renard spends his time staring down the road of the park as if he is looking for something, obviously Nick's car.

With only a few minutes left before the ceremony deadline, the rumble of Nick's truck can be heard. The detective throws his truck in park at the end of the parking lot before sprinting towards the small group. He skids to a stop in front of them and runs a hand through his hair to straighten it.

"Sorry I'm late." He pants. "I passed a bad traffic accident on the way that no one had responded to yet so I stopped to help. I didn't think that it would take quite as long as it did."

Renard looks amused by his announcement because it is exactly like Nick stop for someone else. Yet, he still lets out a breath he had not realized he had been holding. Nick sends a quick, reassuring grin in Renard's direction as if he knew Renard had been worried that he might not show up. The Grimm might have been very reluctant in the beginning, but had, in the past few months, grown more attached to the idea of marrying Renard. The growing compulsion to go through with the ceremony had certainly aided the agreement along as well.

"Let's get started so we can all get out of here." Wu announces as he opens the book.

"I have the silver bowl we need. I found it in my aunt's belongings," Nick adds. He holds it out, and Monroe accepts it without prompting. The Blutbad has seen quite a few Grimm weddings go on. He knows exactly what to do.

Renard draws his own piece of the ceremony, a silver dagger, out of his pocket. Nick eyes it warily while Wu ignores it completely in favor of trying to trip through the German in book. The ceremony goes fairly well, but is entirely in German. It means that they have to stop a few times for Renard or Monroe to coach Nick through what he is supposed to say. Other than that, the Grimm does not hesitate in performing any of the tasks required by the ceremony, even when he has to cut his palm with the dagger Renard provides.

Most of the way through the ceremony, Nick determines that he wants translation of everything he is a agreeing to just so nothing takes him by surprise. He has only been able to understand about every third word that comes out of someone's mouth. He gets the general idea of what is going on, but he definitely does not get everything. It has Nick wishing that he studied harder in his high school and college German classes. He is enjoying listening to Renard speak in German though, and loosely wonders if his captain can speak any other languages.

Everyone is a bit tired by the time it ends. When Wu mutters the last words, he closes the book with finality. Nick looks to Renard for an explanation, but instead, Renard happily leans forward and to kiss Nick, the final act of the ceremony, instead of explaining. He lets one arm slide to the small of Nick's back to pull the man closer while keeping his other hand cupped around the back of Nick's neck. Nick slides his arms under Renard's to wind around the other man's waist while he kisses back eagerly.

"Get a room." Wu calls.

"I completely agree." Monroe adds.

Nick breaks the kiss to glare at the two of them. Renard only grins because the end of the kiss means the ceremony is over. Then, just like that, they are married.

**A/N: AND IT'S DONE! At just over 11,000 words this is by far the longest story I've written, edited and posted! But it's done! *fist pump in air***


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